Roster management across organizations

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for generating a shared collaborative channel for collaboration are provided. In particular, a computing device may receive a request, from an originating member of an organization, to create the shared collaborative channel, the request including an invitee to be added to the shared collaborative channel. In response to receipt of the request, the computing device may provision a substrate group by creating a container associate with the shared collaborative channel including a substrate database associated with the shared collaborative channel, generate an invitation including a custom link to the shared collaborative channel for the invitee, and determine whether the invitee belongs to an originating collaboration team associated with the originating member based on the substrate database. If the invitee belongs to the originating collaboration team, the computing device may further update the substrate group to add the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel.

BACKGROUND

A collaborative platform provides a collaborative workspace to allow ateam within an organization to stay connected and productive byproviding easy access to team members, documents, and information.Expanded connectivity enables team members to make informed decisionsand improve efficiency. Recent enhancements in collaboration platforms,further improve upon sharing documents, tracking tasks, e-mail efficacy,and idea and information sharing. However, oftentimes the collaborativeworkspace does not provide means to allow collaboration betweenindividuals in different teams within the organization and/orcollaboration with individuals or teams outside the organization.

It is with respect to these and other general considerations that theaspects disclosed herein have been made. Also, although relativelyspecific problems may be discussed, it should be understood that theexamples should not be limited to solving the specific problemsidentified in the background or elsewhere in this disclosure.

SUMMARY

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, amethod for generating a shared collaborative channel for collaborationis provided. The method may include receiving a request, from anoriginating member in an originating organization, to create the sharedcollaborative channel, the request including an invitee to be added tothe shared collaborative channel, in response to receiving the request,provisioning a substrate group by creating a container including asubstrate database associated with the shared collaborative channel, thesubstrate database including a membership roster of the sharedcollaborative channel, generating an invitation including a custom linkfor accessing the shared collaborative channel by the invitee, thecustom link indicating an identity of the invitee, based on the identityof the invitee, determining whether the invitee belongs to theoriginating organization based on an organizational database, and inresponse to determining that the invitee belongs to the originatingorganization, (i) updating the membership roster of the substratedatabase to add the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborativechannel and (ii) based on the custom link, automatically establishing alinkage for access to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee.

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, acomputing device generating a shared collaborative channel forcollaboration is provided. The computing device may include a processorand a memory having a plurality of instructions stored thereon that,when executed by the processor, causes the computing device to receive arequest, from an originating member of an organization, to create theshared collaborative channel, the request including an invitee to beadded to the shared collaborative channel, in response to receipt of therequest, provision a substrate group by creating a container associatewith the shared collaborative channel including a substrate databaseassociated with the shared collaborative channel, the substrate databaseincluding a membership roster of the shared collaborative channel,generate an invitation including a custom link to the sharedcollaborative channel for the invitee, determine whether the inviteebelongs to an originating collaboration team associated with theoriginating member based on the substrate database, and in response to adetermination that the invitee belongs to the originating collaborationteam, update the substrate group to add the invitee as a new member ofthe shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions forgenerating a shared collaborative channel for collaboration is provided.The instructions when executed by one or more processors of a computingdevice, cause the computing device to perform operations, includingreceiving a request, from an originating member in an originatingorganization, to create the shared collaborative channel, the requestincluding an invitee to be added to the shared collaborative channel, inresponse to receiving the request, provisioning a substrate group bycreating a container including a substrate database associated with theshared collaborative channel, the substrate database including amembership roster of the shared collaborative channel, generating aninvitation including a custom link for accessing the sharedcollaborative channel by the invitee, the custom link indicating anidentity of the invitee, based on the identity of the invitee,determining whether the invitee belongs to an originating organizationbased on an organizational database, and in response to determining thatthe invitee belongs to the originating organization updating themembership roster of the substrate database to add the invitee as a newmember of the shared collaborative channel, wherein the substrate groupis associated with an independent identity management directory thatincludes a list of members that are authorized to access resources orcontent associated with the shared collaborative channel.

Any of the one or more above aspects in combination with any other ofthe one or more aspects. Any of the one or more aspects as describedherein.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form, which is further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionalaspects, features, and/or advantages of examples will be set forth inpart in the following description and, in part, will be apparent fromthe description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples are described with reference tothe following Figures.

FIG. 1 depicts details directed to a collaborative communication systemfor facilitating collaboration between users in accordance with examplesof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts details directed to a collaborative communication systemfor facilitating collaboration between collaboration teams within anorganization in accordance with examples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts details directed to a collaborative communication systemfor facilitating collaboration between individuals and/or teams indifferent organizations in accordance with examples of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict example user interfaces of computing devices whena collaborative channel is shared between an originating team and arecipient team in accordance with examples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4C depicts an example block diagram of a collaborative platformserver in accordance with examples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram illustrating physical components (e.g.,hardware) of a collaborative platform server with which aspects of thedisclosure may be practiced;

FIG. 6 depicts a method directed to creating a shared collaborativechannel for collaboration in accordance with examples of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram illustrating physical components (e.g.,hardware) of a computing device with which aspects of the disclosure maybe practiced;

FIG. 8A illustrates a first example of a computing device with whichaspects of the disclosure may be practiced;

FIG. 8B illustrates a second example of a computing device with whichaspects of the disclosure may be practiced; and

FIG. 9 illustrates at least one aspect of an architecture of a systemfor processing data in accordance with examples of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustrations specific aspects or examples. These aspects may becombined, other aspects may be utilized, and structural changes may bemade without departing from the present disclosure. Aspects may bepracticed as methods, systems or devices. Accordingly, aspects may takethe form of a hardware implementation, an entirely softwareimplementation, or an implementation combining software and hardwareaspects. The following detailed description is therefore not to be takenin a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

In accordance with examples of the present disclosure, a collaborativecommunication system allows individuals or collaboration teams in anorganization (also referred to as a tenant) to create a collaborativeenterprise environment on a collaborative platform (e.g., Microsoft®Teams®) with other individuals or collaboration teams within theorganization and/or with other individuals or collaboration teams thatbelong to a different organization. Each user of the collaborativeplatform may customize the user's collaborative environment. Eachcollaboration team includes a group of team members and may have morethan one collaborative channel shared among the team members. Forexample, a member of a collaboration team in an organization may createa collaborative channel to work on a project with other individuals inthe same collaboration team and/or one or more members from a differentcollaboration team in the same organization. Collaboration may involvephone calls (e.g., IP-based calls), chat threads, email threads, channelconversations, document sharing, task tracking, scheduled meetings, andthe like. Additionally, or alternatively, the collaborative channel maybe shared with one or more individuals or teams outside of theorganization (e.g., an external organization).

Each individual who has been invited or added to the collaborativechannel may be assigned a specific set of rights (e.g., to access andinteract with content in the collaborative channel) based at least inpart on a type of the collaborative channel and an identity of theindividual (e.g., within or outside the collaboration team, internal orexternal of the organization). For example, the type of a collaborativechannel (e.g., standard, private, and shared) may be defined by anindividual when creating the collaborative channel (also referred to asan owner of the collaborative channel). It should be appreciated that,in some aspects, the owner and/or one or more authorized members of thecollaborative channel may modify the type of collaborative channel afterthe collaborative channel has been created. Additionally, it should alsobe appreciated that there may be multiple owners associated with thecollaborative channel and owners may have additional authority to makechanges to the collaborative channel than other members. As describedabove, regardless of the type of collaborative channel, an individualwho is not a member of the collaboration team may be invited and/oradded to the collaborative channel as a channel-only member.Additionally, in some aspects, a member of the collaboration team mayalso be explicitly added to a particular collaborative channel as achannel-only member. In such aspects, if the member is removed from thecollaboration team, the member will retain access to the particularcollaborative channel to which the member was added as the channel-onlymember.

As described above, the type of a collaborative channel may includestandard, private, and shared. The standard collaborative channel isconfigured to establish an open collaboration within the collaborationteam and inherits a roster (e.g., a full membership list) correspondingto the collaboration team. In other words, the standard collaborativechannel and its contents are visible to every team member in thecollaboration team. Even so, the owner of the collaborative channel maystill maintain more rights than the other team members, such as rightsto make changes to the roster, schedule meetings, grant rights to othermembers, and the like. It should be appreciated that, in some aspects,the standard collaborative channel may be public. For example, users inthe same organization may access content in standard public channels.

The private collaborative channel is a channel where membership may be asubset of the team members in a collaboration team and/or a subset ofmembers of an organization more broadly. The private collaborativechannel and its contents are hidden from other team members (ororganization members) who are not members of the private collaborativechannel. For example, anyone in the collaboration team may create aprivate collaborative channel and invite one or more particular teammembers in the collaboration team to access the private collaborativechannel. In fact, a team owner (e.g., a person who created thecollaboration team) may not be a member of the private collaborativechannel.

The shared collaborative channel allows cross-team collaboration betweenmultiple collaborative teams within the same organization or acrossmultiple organizations. The shared collaborative channel allows membersin different teams to collaborate as if they were all members of thesame collaboration team. When a shared collaborative channel is created,the originating member may be referred to as an originating owner. Theoriginating owner is a member of an originating organization (e.g.,internal organization) and may be (but is not required to be) a memberof an internal collaboration team, for instance. The originating ownermay invite members to the shared collaborative channel from differentcollaboration teams (e.g., internal collaboration teams) within the sameorganization (e.g., internal organization) and/or may invite membersfrom different organizations (e.g., external organizations). If a memberis associated with the same organization as the originating owner, themember is an internal member; whereas if a member is not associated withthe same organization as the originating owner, the member is anexternal member. An internal member may be granted rights of an owner bythe originating owner, which may include some or all of the rights heldby the originating owner. In aspects, an external member may be grantedrights as an external owner, but may not be granted all of the rights ofan internal designated owner or the originating owner. That is, anexternal designated owner may not have rights to add or remove internalmembers from the membership roster of the shared collaborative channelbut may have rights to add or remove external members (e.g., users fromthe same organization as the external designated owner). For example, ifOrganization A is collaborating with an external consulting firm likeOrganization B on a project, Organization A may not know how manyindividuals Organization B has allocated or when consultants will rollon or off the project. In such an example, Organization A may delegatemanaging a list of users within Organization B to an external ownermember of Organization B. This allows Organization A to easilycollaborate with Organization B without having to identify and updateeach and every consultant that rotates throughout the project.

Additionally, each member of a shared collaborative channel may chooseto add or link the shared collaborative channel directly to one or moreof the member's collaboration teams (e.g., a member's primarycollaboration team), as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. This prevents themember from needing to move out of context from one collaboration teamto view content in the shared collaborative channel, which may beassociated with a different collaboration team of the same organizationor with a different organization entirely. It should be appreciated thatedits (e.g., additions, deletions, changes) made to the content in thecollaborative channel may be reflected in near real-time across usersystems. For example, while an edit is being made to the content on oneuser system, the edit may be reflected at substantially (or nearly) thesame time on another user system. “Near” real-time (or substantiallyreal-time) may account for a minimal delay associated with transmissionand synchronization of changes due to resource availability, processingspeeds, network bandwidth, and the like.

In the illustrative aspect, when a new private or shared collaborativechannel is created, a new substrate group may be provisioned within aresource tenant (i.e., where the new private or shared collaborativechannel lives). The new substrate group is associated with the newcollaborative channel and serves as an authority for membership (e.g.,an identity management directory) inside the new collaborative channel.For example, the substrate group may contain a roster that includes alist of users and computers that are authorized to access resources orcontent associated with the collaborative channel. As such, a directmapping (e.g., a 1:1 mapping) is established between the collaborativechannel and the substrate group. The substrate group includes asubstrate database for storing content (e.g., membership, messages,calendar entries) that is shared between members of the associatedcollaborative channel. Such content may be received, uploaded, orotherwise generated by the members and may be made available to multipleapplications accessible by the members, including the collaborativeplatform, a calendar/messaging application, a planner application, anotebook application, and the like. It should be appreciated that thesubstrate group is independent from other identity managementdirectories (e.g., Azure Active Directory) that may be associated withthe collaboration team.

By creating a collaborative channel with its own substrate group, anindividual may be added to a specific collaborative channel (e.g.,channel-only members) for collaboration without being a member of thecollaboration team. This allows the collaborative communication systemto limit the access of channel-only members to content of the specificcollaborative channel only. It should be appreciated that this is asignificant improvement over current collaborative systems where allchannels within a collaboration team share the same roster (e.g., sameidentity management directory) and the same substrate database, which inthe case of a shared channel would result in all members, includingusers outside of the resource tenant (i.e., from different tenants), tohave at least read access all content of the collaborative team. Bybifurcating the membership roster of a shared collaborative channel fromthe general organizational directories, additional flexibility inassigning content permissions (e.g., read/write) and/or channel rights(e.g., changing membership, adding tasks, scheduling meetings, etc.) toboth internal and external members can be achieved.

It should be appreciated that although, for example purposes, describedembodiments generally relate to applications, e.g., such as emailapplications, chat applications, collaborative platforms, and the like,the present methods and systems are not so limited. For example,collaboration content described herein may be used to providecollaborative experiences in applications other than messagingapplications, such as word processing applications, spreadsheetapplications, notebook applications, presentation applications, instantmessaging or chat applications, social networking platforms, and thelike.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , an example collaborative communication system100 for facilitating collaborations between users is provided, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. To do so, thecollaborative communication system 100 includes a collaborative platformserver 110 that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of computingdevices 130 associated with users (e.g., members) 120 in via a network160. The network 160 may include any kind of computing networkincluding, without limitation, a wired or wireless local area network(LAN), a wired or wireless wide area network (WAN), and/or the Internet.

Specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of an example collaborativecommunication system 100 through which a member of a collaboration team136 in an organization may collaborate with another member within oroutside of the collaboration team 136 in the same or differentorganization via a collaborative platform server 110. The collaborativeplatform server 110 is associated with a collaborative platform, such asMicrosoft Teams. In the illustrative aspect, the collaborative platformserver 110 includes a channel generator 112 and a channel manager 114.The channel generator 112 may create a shared collaborative channel 138for sharing content between internal or external members of thecollaboration team 136. The channel manger 114 may manage membershipsand access permissions of the shared collaborative channel 138. However,as described above, in some examples, the shared collaborative channelmay be generated as a standalone channel that is not associated with acollaborative team in the organization.

Content 140 may be shared and/or updated by one or more members of theshared collaborative channel 138 via an application 132 that iscommunicatively coupled to the collaborative platform server 110. Forexample, the content may include documents, agenda items, calendaritems, action or task items, notes, or the like. It should beappreciated that any content (e.g., materials, documents, data, etc.)discussed or shared during a collaboration session may be automaticallyassociated with the respective collaborative channel 138 and commonlystored (e.g., a substrate database associated with the sharedcollaborative channel) that is accessible only by the members of theshared collaborative channel 138, based on any applicable permissions orrights to the content assigned to each member. In other words, thecollaborative communication system 100 may provide a concurrentmulti-user interaction and a real-time collaboration between the membersof the shared collaborative channel 138—whether inside or outside of anorganization.

As described above, each user 120 of the collaborative platform maycustomize the user's collaborative environment, which is displayable ona user interface 133 of the user device 130. It should be appreciatedthat each member of the shared collaborative channel 138 may choosewhere to link or mount the shared collaborative channel 138 within theuser's collaborative environment. For example, the shared collaborativechannel 138 may be mounted to a particular collaboration team 136 withinthe user's collaborative environment. As described above, the user mayhave access to some or all content associated with the sharedcollaborative channel 138. Additionally, while an owner may haveauthority to mount the shared collaborative channel 138 to theparticular collaboration team 136, members may have limited authority tomake changes to the shared collaborative channel 138 or to alter wherethe channel is mounted. However, it should be appreciated that, in someother aspects, the shared collaborative channel 138 may not be linked toa collaboration team 136 but instead may be linked to the user'scollaborative environment as a standalone channel.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 , an example shared collaborative channelis illustrated. Specifically, FIG. 2 depicts an example collaborativecommunication system 200 for facilitating collaborations betweendifferent collaboration teams within the same organization, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In theillustrative aspect, the collaborative communication system 200 allows amember of one collaboration team in an organization to create a sharedcollaborative channel 170 on a collaborative platform with otherindividuals and/or collaboration teams within the same organization. Todo so, the collaborative communication system 200 includes acollaborative platform server 110 that is communicatively coupled to aplurality of computing devices 130A-130E associated with users (e.g.,members) 120A-120E in the same organization, Tenant A, via the network160. As described above, the network 160 may include any kind ofcomputing network including, without limitation, a wired or wirelesslocal area network (LAN), a wired or wireless wide area network (WAN),and/or the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 2 , Collaboration Team 1 has two team members 120A,120B. Each team member 120A, 120B has a computing device 130A, 130B thatis communicatively coupled to the collaborative platform server 110 toachieve collaboration within Collaboration Team 1. Additionally,Collaboration Team 1 may have more than one collaborative channel sharedamong the team members 120A, 120B. For example, the team member 120A(also referred to as a host or an originating channel owner from anoriginating collaboration team) may create a shared collaborativechannel to initiate cross-team collaboration with Collaboration Team 2in the same organization, Tenant A. When the shared collaborativechannel is created, the membership of the shared collaborative channelmay be defined as an aggregation of members from Collaboration Team 1(i.e., the originating collaboration team) and Collaboration Team 2(i.e., a recipient collaboration team). Additionally, the originatingchannel owner 120A may also invite a member 120C of Tenant A, who is nota member of any collaborative channel, to the shared collaborativechannel.

Alternatively, or additionally, as depicted in FIG. 3 , an examplecollaborative communication system 300 may facilitating collaborationbetween collaboration teams across different organizations (i.e.,cross-tenants), in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Specifically, in the illustrative aspect, the collaborativecommunication system 300 allows a member of one organization (whether amember of a collaboration team within the organization or not) to createa shared collaborative channel with other individuals and/orcollaboration teams from another organization. To do so, thecollaborative communication system 300 includes a collaborative platformserver 110 that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of computingdevices 130A-130C associated with members 120A-120C in Tenant A and aplurality of computing devices 130F-130H associated with members120F-120H in Tenant B via the network 160.

As shown in FIG. 3 , Collaboration Team 1 has three team members 120A,120B. Each team member has a computing device 130A, 130B that iscommunicatively coupled to the collaborative platform server 110 toachieve collaboration within Collaboration Team 1. Additionally,Collaboration Team 1 may have more than one collaborative channel sharedamong the team members 120A, 120B. For example, the team member 120A(also referred to as a host or an originating channel owner from anoriginating collaboration team) may create a shared collaborativechannel to initiate cross-team collaboration with Collaboration Team 3from a different organization, Tenant B. When the shared collaborativechannel is created, the membership of the shared collaborative channelmay be defined as an aggregation of members from Collaboration Team 1(i.e., the originating collaboration team) and Collaboration Team 3(i.e., a recipient collaboration team). Additionally, the originatingchannel owner 120A may also invite a member 120C of Tenant A, who is nota member of any collaborative channel, to the shared collaborativechannel.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, example user interfaces of computingdevices when a shared collaborative channel is shared between anoriginating team (e.g., “Product” Team) and a recipient team (e.g.,“Marketing” Team) in accordance with examples of the present disclosure.In the illustrative aspect, when an invitation to a shared collaborativechannel is sent to an external collaboration team, the externaldesignated owner of the external collaboration team may only define ormodify the scope of the shared collaborative channel for the externalcollaboration team but not for the members of the internal collaborationteam. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, the external designatedowner may grant all team members of the external collaboration teamaccess to the shared collaborative channel, in which case, all teammembers of the external collaboration team are aggregated and added tothe channel membership of the shared collaborative channel. In otherwords, all team members of the external collaboration team can see theshared collaborative channel and can access content of the sharedcollaborative channel. Alternatively, the external designated owner mayselect a subset of members from the external collaboration team to beincluded in the shared collaborative channel, as illustrated in FIG. 4B.In such a case, only the selected team members can see the sharedcollaborative channel and can access content of the shared collaborativechannel.

Referring now to FIG. 4C, an illustrative block diagram of thecollaborative platform server 110 in accordance with examples of thepresent disclosure is provided. Upon receiving a request to generate anew private or shared collaborative channel, the collaborative platformserver 110 provisions a substrate group 406 associated with the newcollaborative channel 408. As described above, each substrate group 406has its own substrate database 410 for storing content (e.g.,membership, messages, calendar entries) that are shared between membersof the associated collaborative channel. This allows the channel-onlymembers to only access content in the respective substrate database andprevents them from accessing all content of a collaboration team outsideof the shared collaborative channel. It should be appreciated that amanagement directory 402 (e.g., Azure® Active Directory®) may receiveand store various data associated with the collaboration team 404,including rules or policies (e.g., authentication and access) related toteam management and/or administration. It should be appreciated thatthis information may be synced down to one or more substrate databases410.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , the collaborative platform server 502 inaccordance with examples of the present disclosure is provided. Thecollaborative platform server 502 may be the same as or similar to thecollaborative platform server 110 previously described in FIGS. 1-3 .The collaborative platform server 502 may include a communicationinterface 504, a processor 506, a computer-readable storage 508, one ormore input devices 512, and one or more output devices 514. In examples,the communication interface 504 may be coupled to a network and receivea request to generate a collaborative channel.

In examples, one or more applications 510 may be provided by thecollaborative platform server 502. The one or more applications 510 mayinclude a channel generator 520 and a channel manager 528. The channelgenerator 520 may be the same as or similar to the channel generator 112previously described in FIGS. 1-3 . The channel manager 528 may be thesame as or similar to the channel manager 114 previously described inFIGS. 1-3 .

The channel generator 520 is configured to generate a sharedcollaborative channel. To do so, the channel generator 520 may provisiona substrate group (e.g., 406 in FIG. 4C) associated with the new sharedcollaborative channel (e.g., 408 in FIG. 4C). As described above, thenew substrate group is configured to serve as an authority formembership (e.g., identity management directory) inside the new sharedcollaborative channel. For example, the substrate group may contain aroster that includes a list of users and computers that are authorizedto access resources or content of the shared collaborative channel. Assuch, a direct mapping (e.g., a 1:1 mapping) is established between theshared collaborative channel and the substrate group. The substrategroup is also associated with a substrate database (e.g., 410 in FIG.4C) for storing content that is shared between members of the new sharedcollaborative channel. Such content may be received, uploaded, orotherwise generated by the members and may be made available to multipleapplications accessible by the members, including the collaborativeplatform, a calendar/messaging application, a planner application, anotebook application, and the like. It should be appreciated that asubstrate database 518 may include a plurality of partitions orotherwise for storing content and a substrate directory for each sharedchannel associated with a tenant. It should be appreciated that thesubstrate database 518 is independent from other identity managementdirectories that may be associated with an organization or acollaboration team. Similarly, a tenant management directory 516 mayinclude a plurality of management directories (e.g., Azure ActiveDirectory) that include a general directory for the tenant.

As described above, a collaborative channel may be of a standard,private, or shared type. To do so, the channel generator 520 may furtherinclude a standard channel generator 522, a private channel generator524, and a shared channel generator 526. The standard channel generator522 is configured to generate a standard collaborative channel forestablishing open collaboration within a collaboration team. Asdescribed above, the standard collaborative channel inherits a fullmembership list from the collaboration team and membership is hosted bythe tenant management directory 516 (e.g., Azure Active Directory). Inother words, the standard collaborative channel and its contents arevisible to every team member in the collaboration team. It should beappreciated that, in some aspects, the standard collaborative channelmay be public. In this case, the membership roster corresponds to userswithin the same organization—whether they are members of the samecollaboration team or not—and general organizational policies governeach user's access (whether read only or read/write, etc.) to thecontent of the public channel.

The private channel generator 524 is configured to generate a privatecollaborative channel where membership is a subset of team memberswithin an organization or within a collaboration team. The privatecollaborative channel and its contents are hidden from other teammembers who are not members of the private collaborative channel. Forexample, anyone in the collaboration team may create a privatecollaborative channel and invite one or more particular team members inthe collaboration team to access the private collaborative channel. Infact, a team owner (e.g., a person who created the collaboration team)may not be a member of the private collaborative channel. However, aprivate collaboration channel may not be applicable to cross-tenantcollaboration as the membership roster (and any associated content) isbased on the tenant's organizational (internal) directory (e.g., AzureActive Directory).

The shared channel generator 526 is configured to generate a sharedcollaborative channel for establishing cross-team collaboration betweenmultiple collaborative teams within the same organization or acrossdifferent organizations. The shared collaborative channel allows membersin different collaboration teams to collaborate as if they were allmembers of the same collaboration team. When a shared collaborativechannel is created, the membership of the shared collaborative channelmay be defined as an aggregation of members from origination andrecipient collaboration teams, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. It should beappreciated that, in some aspects, an owner designated by theoriginating owner (e.g., a designated owner) of a recipientcollaboration team (either internal or external) may decide which teammembers from the recipient collaboration team to include in the sharedcollaborative channel, as illustrated in FIG. 4B.

It should be appreciated that the type of collaborative channel may bedefined by an individual who is creating or requesting to create thecollaborative channel. In some aspects, the type of collaborativechannel may be modified after the collaborative channel is created.Additionally, it should also be appreciated that there may be multipleowners (e.g., an originating owner and one or more designated owners)associated with the collaborative channel who may be allowed to modifythe channel type associated with the collaborative channel.

Additionally, the channel manager 528 is configured to manage acollaborative channel generated by the channel generator 520. To do so,the channel manager 528 may further include a channel member manager530, a link generator 532, a link establisher 534, and a policydeterminer 536. The channel member manager 530 is configured to managemembership of each collaborative channel. For example, the channelmember manager 530 may monitor and determine if a new member (e.g., anew individual and/or a new collaboration team) is being added to ashared collaborative channel. If the channel member manager 530determines that a new member is requested to be added to the sharedcollaborative channel, the channel member manager 530 communicates tothe link generator 532 to generate a custom link to the sharedcollaborative channel.

The link generator 532 is configured to generate a channel link for eachinvitee who is being invited to a shared collaborative channel. Forexample, a member of an originating collaboration team from anoriginating organization may request to create a shared collaborativechannel to be shared with one or more invitees. An invitee may be anindividual from the same originating collaboration team, an individualfrom a different collaboration team in the same organization, or anindividual from a different organization. Additionally, oralternatively, an invitee may be a collaboration team (e.g., includingall members of the collaboration team) from the same organization or acollaboration team from a different organization. To invite anothercollaboration team from the same organization or a differentorganization, the request may include an identity of an individual whois a member of that collaboration team and may be granted rights as adesignated owner to add members of that collaboration team to the sharedcollaborative channel.

Specifically, the link generator 532 is configured to generate a customlink to the shared collaborative channel for each invitee. The customlink is generated based on the identity of the respective invitee. Forexample, if the invitee is an individual, the identity of the inviteemay include an identifier of an organization that the individual belongsto, an identifier of the individual, and an email address of theindividual. In other example, if the invitee is another collaborationteam (e.g., a recipient collaboration team) within or outside of theoriginating organization, the identity of the invitee may include anidentifier of an organization to which the recipient collaboration teambelongs, a recipient collaboration team identifier, and an email addressassociated with the recipient collaboration team (e.g., an email addressof a team member of the recipient collaboration team). Accordingly, acustom link for an invitee may include, among other things, anidentifier of the organization that the invitee belongs to, an inviteeidentifier, an email address of the invitee, and a display name of theshared collaborative channel. The display name of the sharedcollaborative channel is a channel name that appears to one or moreindividuals who have access to the shared collaborative channel.

The link establisher 534 is configured to establish a link between ashared collaborative channel and an invitee who was invited or added tothe shared collaborative channel via a custom link. To do so, the linkestablisher 534 adds a custom link to a substrate group associated withthe shared collaborative channel. Specifically, the link establisher 534adds a custom link that points to a respective member of the sharedcollaborative channel to the substrate group, thereby adding a memberinto the substrate group. In aspects, the invitee may be added to thesubstrate group upon acceptance of the invitation.

The policy determiner 536 is configured to update one or more policiesassociated with one or more organizations to which one or more membersof a respective collaborative channel belong. The policy determiner 536may further determine whether members of a respective collaborativechannel are in compliance with policies associated with the respectivecollaborative channel. For example, the policy determiner 536 maydetermine whether a member is qualified to make a request to add anotherindividual or another collaboration team to a given shared collaborativechannel (e.g., a given substrate group associated with the sharedcollaborative channel). In some aspects, the policy determiner 536 mayfurther configured to determine whether a member to be added to a sharedcollaborative channel (e.g., added to a substrate group associated withthe shared collaborative channel) is in compliance with a cross-tenantaccess policy. The policy determiner 536 may be configured to assign aset of rights to each members of the collaborative channel based atleast in part on a type of the shared collaborative channel and anidentity of the individual (e.g., within or outside the collaborationteam, internal or external to the organization). Additionally, thepolicy determiner 536 may further be configured to determine whether anindividual who is trying to view and/or access content of acollaborative channel is authorized by an applicable policy to do so.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , a method 600 for creating a sharedcollaborative channel in accordance with examples of the presentdisclosure is provided. A general order for the steps of the method 600is shown in FIG. 6 . Generally, the method 600 starts at 602 and ends at618. The method 600 may include more or fewer steps or may arrange theorder of the steps differently than those shown in FIG. 6 . In theillustrative aspect, the method 600 is performed by a server (e.g., acollaborative platform server 110, 800). For example, the collaborativeplatform server may be, but is not limited to, a web-server, a serverinstance on a cloud platform, a cloud-enabled operating system, or anyother suitable computing device that is capable of communicating withone or more computing devices (e.g., a computing device 130) associatedwith one or more members (e.g., 120) of one or more organizations. Forexample, the collaborative platform server may be any suitable computingdevice that is capable of communicating with the computing device. Asdescribed above, in some aspects, the collaborative platform server maybe a group of servers that are communicatively coupled to one another.The method 600 can be executed as a set of computer-executableinstructions executed by a computer system and encoded or stored on acomputer readable medium. Further, the method 600 can be performed bygates or circuits associated with a processor, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), asystem on chip (SOC), or other hardware device. Hereinafter, the method600 shall be explained with reference to the systems, components,modules, software, data structures, user interfaces, etc. described inconjunction with FIG. 1 .

The method 600 starts at 602, where flow may proceed to 604. At 604, thecollaborative platform server receives a request from a member of anoriginating organization or collaboration team to create a sharedcollaborative channel to be shared with one or more invitees. It shouldbe appreciated that the member requesting the shared collaborativechannel is an originating owner of the shared collaborative channel fromthe originating collaboration team. The request includes an identity ofeach invitee who is being invited to the shared collaborative channel.It should be appreciated that an invitee may be an individual from thesame originating collaboration team, an individual from a differentrecipient collaboration team in the same or different organization, oran individual from the same or different organization. Additionally, oralternatively, an invitee may be a collaboration team from the sameorganization or a collaboration team from a different organization. Toinvite another collaboration team from the same organization or adifferent organization, the request may include an identity of anindividual who is a member of that internal or external collaborationteam. Additionally, the identified individual may be granted rights of adesignated owner to allow the identified individual to add one or moreother members of the internal or external collaboration team to theshared collaborative channel.

In response to receiving the request, the method 600 proceeds tooperation 606. It should be appreciated that operations 606-610 may beperformed sequentially or simultaneously. In operation 606, thecollaborative platform server creates a shared collaborative channelassociated with the originating owner and the originating collaborationteam. To do so, in operation 608, the collaborative platform serverprovisions a substrate group by creating a container with a substratedatabase for the shared collaborative channel. However, it should beappreciated that the originating owner may invite all or a subset of themembers of the originating collaboration team to be members of theshared collaborative channel.

As described above, by creating a shared collaborative channel with itsown substrate group, the originating owner (or, in some cases, adesignated owner) may define policies (e.g., content permissions and/orchannel rights) for each individual invited to the shared collaborativechannel). For instance, an individual may be added to a sharedcollaborative channel with limited access (e.g., read access) to some orall content associated with the shared collaborative channel. It shouldbe appreciated that this is a significant improvement over currentcollaborative systems where all channels within a collaboration teamshare the same roster and/or identity management directory. That is,conventionally, permissions and/or rights within a channel were governedby the general policies of an organization and/or a collaboration teambased on a general (organization-wide) management directory. In thiscase, an individual outside of the collaboration team would be treatedas a “guest” to the collaboration team and/or the collaborative channeland permissions and/or rights of the individual may be based on the roleof “guest” rather than being more customizable by the originating owneror designated owners of the shared collaborative channel.

In operation 610, the collaborative platform server generates andtransmits an invitation including a custom link for accessing the sharedcollaborative channel to each invitee. The custom link is generatedbased on the identity of the respective invitee. The identity of theinvitee may include, among other things, an identifier of theorganization that the invitee belongs to, an invitee (e.g., user)identifier, an email address of the invitee, and a display name of theshared collaborative channel, for example. The display name of theshared collaborative channel may be a channel name that appears to oneor more individuals who have access to the shared collaborative channel.

For example, if the invitee is an individual, the identity of theinvitee may include an identifier of an organization that the individualbelongs to, an identifier of the individual, and an email address of theindividual. The custom link may include the identity of the invitee anda display name of the shared collaborative channel. In such an example,the collaborative platform server may present a list of collaborationteams that the individual is an owner/member of and allow the individualto choose which one or more collaboration teams to mount the sharedcollaborative channel to (e.g., to associate the shared collaborativechannel with a collaborative team). A number of collaboration teams thatthe individual may choose to mount the shared collaborative channel maydepend on one or more policies defined in the collaborative platformserver. It should be appreciated that mounting the shared collaborativechannel to a particular collaboration team allows the individual toaccess the shared collaborative channel directly from the particularcollaboration team. It should be appreciated that, mounting the sharedcollaborative channel to the particular collaboration does not allowother team members of the particular collaboration to access the sharedcollaborative channel. In some aspects, the individual may invite one ormore team members of the particular collaboration team to the sharedcollaborative channel depending on the policies.

In other example, if the invitee is another collaboration team (e.g., arecipient collaboration team) within or outside of the originatingorganization, the identity of the invitee may include an organizationidentifier that the recipient collaboration team belongs to, a recipientcollaboration team identification number, and an email address (or otheruser identifier) associated with a member of the recipient collaborationteam. The custom link may include the identity of the invitee and adisplay name of the shared collaborative channel. In such an example,the team member receiving the custom link invite may be a designatedowner for the recipient collaboration team and may choose one or moreteam members of the recipient collaboration team with whom to share theinvitation to the shared collaborative channel. In other words, thedesignated owner may decide which team members of the recipientcollaboration team may access the shared collaborative channel. Thisallows the owner of the originating collaboration team to collaboratewith another collaboration team without needing to receive identifyinginformation for each and every team members of the recipientcollaboration team for them to be added to the shared collaborativechannel. In some aspects, a number of team members that may beauthorized to access the shared collaborative channel may be defined bythe policies.

Subsequently, in operation 612, the collaborative platform serverdetermines whether the invitee belongs to the same originatingorganization or collaborative team based on the identity of the invitee.In response to determining that the invitee belongs to the sameoriginating organization or collaborative team, in operation 614, thecollaborative platform server automatically establish a linkage foraccess to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee.

For example, if the invitee is an individual or another collaborationteam within the same originating organization, the linkage may beautomatically established between the shared collaborative channel andthe invitee upon transmitting the custom link to the invitee. If,however, the invitee is an individual or another collaboration teamoutside of the originating organization, the linkage may be establishedbetween the shared collaborative channel and the invitee when theinvitation is accepted by the invitee.

Alternatively, if the invitee is a member of the same originatingcollaborative team, the linkage may be automatically established betweenthe shared collaborative channel and the invitee upon transmitting thecustom link to the invitee. If, however, the invitee is not a member ofthe same originating collaborative team, the linkage may be establishedbetween the shared collaborative channel and the invitee when theinvitation is accepted by the invitee.

In some aspects, when the invitee accepts the invitation to the sharedcollaborative channel, the collaborative platform server receives anacknowledgement from the invitee indicating one or more locations wherethe shared collaborative channel should be mounted. In some aspects,such information may be communicated to the originating owner of theshared collaborative channel. It should be appreciated that the customlink may not become active until the invitee accepts the link invite andpasses compliance checks depending on the policies.

Once the linkage is established, the invitee is added as a new member ofthe shared collaborative channel. As such, in operation 616, thecollaborative platform server updates the substrate group to sync themembership of the share collaborative channel to add the new member tothe shared collaborative channel. It should be appreciated that if theinvitation is not accepted by the invitee, the invitation may expirewithout updating the substrate database or establishing a linkage to theshared collaborative channel for the invitee. The method 600 may end at618.

FIGS. 7-9 and the associated descriptions provide a discussion of avariety of operating environments in which aspects of the disclosure maybe practiced. However, the devices and systems illustrated and discussedwith respect to FIGS. 7-9 are for purposes of example and illustrationand are not limiting of a vast number of computing device configurationsthat may be utilized for practicing aspects of the disclosure, describedherein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating physical components (e.g.,hardware) of a computing device 700 with which aspects of the disclosuremay be practiced. The computing device components described below may besuitable for the computing devices described above. For example, thecomputing device 700 may represent the computing device 130 of FIG. 1 .In a basic configuration, the computing device 700 may include at leastone processing unit 702 and a system memory 704. Depending on theconfiguration and type of computing device, the system memory 704 maycomprise, but is not limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random accessmemory), non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory), flash memory, orany combination of such memories.

The system memory 704 may include an operating system 705 and one ormore program modules 706 suitable for performing the various aspectsdisclosed herein such. The operating system 705, for example, may besuitable for controlling the operation of the computing device 700.Furthermore, aspects of the disclosure may be practiced in conjunctionwith a graphics library, other operating systems, or any otherapplication program and is not limited to any particular application orsystem. This basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 7 by thosecomponents within a dashed line 708. The computing device 700 may haveadditional features or functionality. For example, the computing device700 may also include additional data storage devices (removable and/ornon-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, ortape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 7 by a removablestorage device 709 and a non-removable storage device 710.

As stated above, several program modules and data files may be stored inthe system memory 704. While executing on the at least one processingunit 702, the program modules 706 may perform processes including, butnot limited to, one or more aspects, as described herein. Theapplication 720 includes a channel requester 723, a member inviter 724,and a link establisher 725. The channel requester 723 is configured torequest a new collaborative channel. As described above, the newcollaborative channel may be standard, private, or shared. A userassociated with the computing device 700 (i.e., the individual who iscreating the collaborative channel and is also referred to as an ownerof the collaborative channel) may define the type of a collaborativechannel when creating the collaborative channel.

The member inviter 724 is configured to invite a new invitee to acollaborative channel. To do so, the member inviter 724 may transmit arequest to a collaborative platform server to generate a custom link toeach new invitee. By doing so, the owner of the collaborative channelmay invite and/or add a member of the collaboration team to a particularcollaborative channel as a channel-only member. The channel-only membermay not be a member of an originating collaboration team that thecollaborative channel is linked to in an originating organization.However, the member inviter 724 allows the owner of the collaborativechannel to add a member outside of the originating collaboration team toaccess the collaborative channel without grating access to the rest ofthe originating collaboration team.

The link establisher 725 is configured to establish a linkage between ashared collaborative channel and the user of the computing device 700.To do so, the link establisher 725 may receive a custom link to theshared collaborative channel when the user of the computing device 700is invited to the shared collaborative channel. In some aspects, thelinkage may be established automatically upon receiving the custom link.For example, if the shared collaborative channel is within the sameorganization, the linkage may be automatically established between theshared collaborative channel and the user. In other aspects, the linkageis established when the user choose to link the shared collaborativechannel to one or more of the user's collaboration teams. For example,if the shared collaborative channel that the user is invited to is fromoutside of the user's organization, the linkage may be establishedbetween the shared collaborative channel and the user when the useraccepts the invitation. In some aspects, when the user accepts theinvitation to the shared collaborative channel, the link establisher 725may transmit an acknowledgement to the collaborative platform serverand/or an owner of the shared collaborative channel indicating one ormore locations where the shared collaborative channel has been linkedto.

Other program modules that may be used in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure may include electronic mail and contactsapplications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications,database applications, slide presentation applications, drawing orcomputer-aided application programs, etc., and/or one or more componentssupported by the systems described herein.

Furthermore, aspects of the disclosure may be practiced in an electricalcircuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integratedelectronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing amicroprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements ormicroprocessors. For example, aspects of the disclosure may be practicedvia a system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of the componentsillustrated in FIG. 7 may be integrated onto a single integratedcircuit. Such an SOC device may include one or more processing units,graphics units, communications units, system virtualization units andvarious application functionality all of which are integrated (or“burned”) onto the chip substrate as a single integrated circuit. Whenoperating via an SOC, the functionality, described herein, with respectto the capability of client to switch protocols may be operated viaapplication-specific logic integrated with other components of thecomputing device 700 on the single integrated circuit (chip). Aspects ofthe disclosure may also be practiced using other technologies capable ofperforming logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT,including but not limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantumtechnologies. In addition, aspects of the disclosure may be practicedwithin a general-purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems.

The computing device 700 may also have one or more input device(s) 712such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound or voice input device, atouch or swipe input device, etc. The output device(s) 714A such as adisplay, speakers, a printer, etc. may also be included. An output 714B,corresponding to a virtual display may also be included. Theaforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. Thecomputing device 700 may include one or more communication connections716 allowing communications with other computing devices 750. Examplesof suitable communication connections 716 include, but are not limitedto, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceivercircuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial ports.

The term computer readable media as used herein may include computerstorage media (e.g., non-transitory media). Computer storage media mayinclude non-transitory, volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,or program modules. The system memory 704, the removable storage device709, and the non-removable storage device 710 are all computer storagemedia examples (e.g., memory storage). Computer storage media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other article ofmanufacture which can be used to store information and which can beaccessed by the computing device 700. Any such computer storage mediamay be part of the computing device 700. Computer storage media does notinclude a carrier wave or other propagated or modulated data signal.

Communication media may be embodied by computer readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, andincludes any information delivery media. The term “modulated datasignal” may describe a signal that has one or more characteristics setor changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. Byway of example, and not limitation, communication media may includewired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, andwireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared, andother wireless media.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a computing device or mobile computing device800, for example, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, wearable computer(such as a smart watch), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and thelike, with which aspects of the disclosure may be practiced. Withreference to FIG. 8A, one aspect of a mobile computing device 800 forimplementing the aspects is illustrated. In a basic configuration, themobile computing device 800 is a handheld computer having both inputelements and output elements. The mobile computing device 800 typicallyincludes a display 805 and one or more input buttons 809/810 that allowthe user to enter information into the mobile computing device 800. Thedisplay 805 of the mobile computing device 800 may also function as aninput device (e.g., a touch screen display). If included, an optionalside input element 815 allows further user input. The side input element815 may be a rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual inputelement. In alternative aspects, mobile computing device 800 mayincorporate more or less input elements. For example, the display 805may not be a touch screen in some aspects. In yet another alternativeaspect, the mobile computing device 800 is a portable phone system, suchas a cellular phone. The mobile computing device 800 may also include anoptional keypad 835. Optional keypad 835 may be a physical keypad or a“soft” keypad generated on the touch screen display. In various aspects,the output elements include the display 805 for showing a graphical userinterface (GUI), a visual indicator 831 (e.g., a light emitting diode),and/or an audio transducer 825 (e.g., a speaker). In some aspects, themobile computing device 800 incorporates a vibration transducer forproviding the user with tactile feedback. In yet another aspect, themobile computing device 800 incorporates input and/or output ports 830,such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g.,a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sendingsignals to or receiving signals from an external source.

FIG. 8B is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of one aspectof computing device, a server, or a mobile computing device. That is,the mobile computing device 800 can incorporate a system (902) (e.g., anarchitecture) to implement some aspects. The system 802 can implementedas a “smart phone” capable of running one or more applications (e.g.,browser, e-mail, calendaring, contact managers, messaging clients,games, and media clients/players). In some aspects, the system 802 isintegrated as a computing device, such as an integrated personal digitalassistant (PDA) and wireless phone.

One or more application programs 866 may be loaded into the memory 862and run on or in association with the operating system 864. Examples ofthe application programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs,personal information management (PIM) programs, word processingprograms, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messagingprograms, and/or one or more components supported by the systemsdescribed herein. The system 802 also includes a non-volatile storagearea 868 within the memory 862. The non-volatile storage area 868 may beused to store persistent information that should not be lost if thesystem 802 is powered down. The application programs 866 may use andstore information in the non-volatile storage area 868, such as e-mailor other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. Asynchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system 802and is programmed to interact with a corresponding synchronizationapplication resident on a host computer to keep the information storedin the non-volatile storage area 868 synchronized with correspondinginformation stored at the host computer. As should be appreciated, otherapplications may be loaded into the memory 862 and run on the mobilecomputing device 800 described herein (e.g. a channel requester 723, amember inviter 724, and a link establisher 725, etc.).

The system 802 has a power supply 870, which may be implemented as oneor more batteries. The power supply 870 might further include anexternal power source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradlethat supplements or recharges the batteries.

The system 802 may also include a radio interface layer 872 thatperforms the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequencycommunications. The radio interface layer 872 facilitates wirelessconnectivity between the system 802 and the “outside world,” via acommunications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and fromthe radio interface layer 872 are conducted under control of theoperating system 864. In other words, communications received by theradio interface layer 872 may be disseminated to the applicationprograms 866 via the operating system 864, and vice versa.

The visual indicator 820 may be used to provide visual notifications,and/or an audio interface 874 may be used for producing audiblenotifications via the audio transducer 825. In the illustratedconfiguration, the visual indicator 820 is a light emitting diode (LED)and the audio transducer 825 is a speaker. These devices may be directlycoupled to the power supply 870 so that when activated, they remain onfor a duration dictated by the notification mechanism even though theprocessor 860/961 and other components might shut down for conservingbattery power. The LED may be programmed to remain on indefinitely untilthe user takes action to indicate the powered-on status of the device.The audio interface 874 is used to provide audible signals to andreceive audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to beingcoupled to the audio transducer 825, the audio interface 874 may also becoupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as to facilitatea telephone conversation. In accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure, the microphone may also serve as an audio sensor tofacilitate control of notifications, as will be described below. Thesystem 802 may further include a video interface 876 that enables anoperation of an on-board camera to record still images, video stream,and the like.

A mobile computing device 800 implementing the system 802 may haveadditional features or functionality. For example, the mobile computingdevice 800 may also include additional data storage devices (removableand/or non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape.Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 8B by the non-volatilestorage area 868.

Data/information generated or captured by the mobile computing device800 and stored via the system 802 may be stored locally on the mobilecomputing device 800, as described above, or the data may be stored onany number of storage media that may be accessed by the device via theradio interface layer 872 or via a wired connection between the mobilecomputing device 800 and a separate computing device associated with themobile computing device 800, for example, a server computer in adistributed computing network, such as the Internet. As should beappreciated such data/information may be accessed via the mobilecomputing device 800 via the radio interface layer 872 or via adistributed computing network. Similarly, such data/information may bereadily transferred between computing devices for storage and useaccording to well-known data/information transfer and storage means,including electronic mail and collaborative data/information sharingsystems.

FIG. 9 illustrates one aspect of the architecture of a system forprocessing data received at a computing system from a remote source,such as a personal computer 904, tablet computing device 906, or mobilecomputing device 908, as described above. Content displayed at serverdevice 902 may be stored in different communication channels or otherstorage types. For example, the computing device 904, 906, 908 mayrepresent the computing device 130 of FIGS. 1-3 , and the server device902 may represent the collaborative platform server 110 of FIG. 1 .

In some aspects, one or more of a channel generator 923 and a channelmanager 924, may be employed by server device 902. The server device 902may provide data to and from a client computing device such as apersonal computer 904, a tablet computing device 906 and/or a mobilecomputing device 908 (e.g., a smart phone) through a network 912. By wayof example, the computer system described above may be embodied in apersonal computer 904, a tablet computing device 906 and/or a mobilecomputing device 908 (e.g., a smart phone). Any of these aspects of thecomputing devices may obtain content from the store 916, in addition toreceiving graphical data useable to be either pre-processed at agraphic-originating system, or post-processed at a receiving computingsystem.

In addition, the aspects and functionalities described herein mayoperate over distributed systems (e.g., cloud-based computing systems),where application functionality, memory, data storage and retrieval andvarious processing functions may be operated remotely from each otherover a distributed computing network, such as the Internet or anintranet. User interfaces and information of various types may bedisplayed via on-board computing device displays or via remote displayunits associated with one or more computing devices. For example, userinterfaces and information of various types may be displayed andinteracted with on a wall surface onto which user interfaces andinformation of various types are projected. Interaction with themultitude of computing systems with which aspects of the invention maybe practiced include, keystroke entry, touch screen entry, voice orother audio entry, gesture entry where an associated computing device isequipped with detection (e.g., camera) functionality for capturing andinterpreting user gestures for controlling the functionality of thecomputing device, and the like.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” “or,” and “and/or” areopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “oneor more of A, B, or C,” “A, B, and/or C,” and “A, B, or C” means Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more,” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation, which is typically continuous orsemi-continuous, done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

Any of the steps, functions, and operations discussed herein can beperformed continuously and automatically.

The example systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to computing devices. However, to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present disclosure, the preceding description omitsseveral known structures and devices. This omission is not to beconstrued as a limitation. Specific details are set forth to provide anunderstanding of the present disclosure. It should, however, beappreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety ofways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the example aspects illustrated herein show thevarious components of the system collocated, certain components of thesystem can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicatedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of thesystem can be combined into one or more devices, such as a server,communication device, or collocated on a particular node of adistributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunicationsnetwork, a packet-switched network, or a circuit-switched network. Itwill be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, that the components of the system can bearranged at any location within a distributed network of componentswithout affecting the operation of the system.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, andmay take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generatedduring radio-wave and infra-red data communications.

While the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes,additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materiallyaffecting the operation of the disclosed configurations and aspects.

Several variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used. Itwould be possible to provide for some features of the disclosure withoutproviding others.

In yet another configurations, the systems and methods of thisdisclosure can be implemented in conjunction with a special purposecomputer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheralintegrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, adigital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit suchas discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate arraysuch as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparablemeans, or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable ofimplementing the methodology illustrated herein can be used to implementthe various aspects of this disclosure. Example hardware that can beused for the present disclosure includes computers, handheld devices,telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids,and others), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devicesinclude processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory,nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore,alternative software implementations including, but not limited to,distributed processing or component/object distributed processing,parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also beconstructed to implement the methods described herein.

In yet another configuration, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another configuration, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as a program embedded on a personal computer such asan applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

The disclosure is not limited to standards and protocols if described.Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein are inexistence and are included in the present disclosure. Moreover, thestandards and protocols mentioned herein, and other similar standardsand protocols not mentioned herein are periodically superseded by fasteror more effective equivalents having essentially the same functions.Such replacement standards and protocols having the same functions areconsidered equivalents included in the present disclosure.

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, amethod for generating a shared collaborative channel for collaborationis provided. The method may include receiving a request, from anoriginating member in an originating organization, to create the sharedcollaborative channel, the request including an invitee to be added tothe shared collaborative channel, in response to receiving the request,provisioning a substrate group by creating a container including asubstrate database associated with the shared collaborative channel, thesubstrate database including a membership roster of the sharedcollaborative channel, generating an invitation including a custom linkfor accessing the shared collaborative channel by the invitee, thecustom link indicating an identity of the invitee, based on the identityof the invitee, determining whether the invitee belongs to theoriginating organization based on an organizational database, and inresponse to determining that the invitee belongs to the originatingorganization, (i) updating the membership roster of the substratedatabase to add the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborativechannel and (ii) based on the custom link, automatically establishing alinkage for access to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include in response to determining that the invitee does not belongto the originating organization, determining whether the invitee hasaccepted the invitation, and in response to determining that the inviteehas accepted the invitation, updating the substrate group to add theinvitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include in response to determining that the invitee does not belongto the originating organization, determining whether the invitee hasaccepted the invitation, and in response to determining that the inviteehas accepted the invitation, establishing a linkage for access to theshared collaborative channel by the invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include in response to determining that the invitee does not belongto the originating organization, determining whether the invitee hasaccepted the invitation, and in response to determining that the inviteehas not accepted the invitation, allowing the invitation to expirewithout updating the substrate database or establishing a linkage to theshared collaborative channel for the invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include where the invitee is one of an individual from theoriginating collaboration team, an individual from a differentcollaboration team in the same organization, or an individual from adifferent organization.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include where the invitee is a recipient collaboration team from theoriginating organization or a different organization, and where one ormore members from the recipient collaboration team are selected to beadded to the shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include where the identity of the invitee includes an organizationidentifier of the invitee and an invitee identifier.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above method, the methodmay include where the substrate group is associated with an independentidentity management directory that includes a list of members that areauthorized to access resources or content associated with the sharedcollaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, acomputing device generating a shared collaborative channel forcollaboration is provided. The computing device may include a processorand a memory having a plurality of instructions stored thereon that,when executed by the processor, causes the computing device to receive arequest, from an originating member of an organization, to create theshared collaborative channel, the request including an invitee to beadded to the shared collaborative channel, in response to receipt of therequest, provision a substrate group by creating a container associatewith the shared collaborative channel including a substrate databaseassociated with the shared collaborative channel, the substrate databaseincluding a membership roster of the shared collaborative channel,generate an invitation including a custom link to the sharedcollaborative channel for the invitee, determine whether the inviteebelongs to an originating collaboration team associated with theoriginating member based on the substrate database, and in response to adetermination that the invitee belongs to the originating collaborationteam, update the substrate group to add the invitee as a new member ofthe shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the computing device may include where the plurality of instructionswhen executed further cause the computing device to in response to adetermination that the invitee belongs to the originating collaborationteam, automatically establish a linkage for access to the sharedcollaborative channel by the invitee based on the custom link.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the computing device may include where the plurality of instructionswhen executed further cause the computing device to in response to adetermination that the invitee does not belong to the originatingcollaboration team, determine whether the invitee has accepted theinvitation, and in response to a determination that the invitee hasaccepted the invitation (i) update the substrate group to add theinvitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel, and (ii)establish a linkage for access to the shared collaborative channel bythe invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the computing device may include where to determine whether the inviteehas accepted the invitation comprises causing the computing device todetermine whether the custom link included in the invitation has beenadded to a collaborative environment of the invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the invitee may be a recipient collaboration team from the originatingorganization or a different organization, and one or more members fromthe recipient collaboration team are selected to be added to the sharedcollaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the identity of the invitee may include an organization identifier ofthe invitee and an invitee identifier.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above computing device,the substrate group may be associated with an independent identitymanagement directory that includes a list of members that are authorizedto access resources or content associated with the shared collaborativechannel

In accordance with at least one example of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions forgenerating a shared collaborative channel for collaboration is provided.The instructions when executed by one or more processors of a computingdevice, cause the computing device to perform operations, includingreceiving a request, from an originating member in an originatingorganization, to create the shared collaborative channel, the requestincluding an invitee to be added to the shared collaborative channel, inresponse to receiving the request, provisioning a substrate group bycreating a container including a substrate database associated with theshared collaborative channel, the substrate database including amembership roster of the shared collaborative channel, generating aninvitation including a custom link for accessing the sharedcollaborative channel by the invitee, the custom link indicating anidentity of the invitee, based on the identity of the invitee,determining whether the invitee belongs to an originating organizationbased on an organizational database, and in response to determining thatthe invitee belongs to the originating organization updating themembership roster of the substrate database to add the invitee as a newmember of the shared collaborative channel, wherein the substrate groupis associated with an independent identity management directory thatincludes a list of members that are authorized to access resources orcontent associated with the shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, the instructions when executed by the one ormore processors may further cause the computing device to performoperations including in response to determining that the invitee belongsto the originating organization, automatically establishing a linkagefor access to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee based onthe custom link.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, the instructions when executed by the one ormore processors may further cause the computing device to performoperations including in response to determining that the invitee doesnot belong to the originating organization, determining whether theinvitee has accepted the invitation, in response to determining that theinvitee has accepted the invitation (i) updating the substrate group toadd the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel, and(ii) establishing a linkage for access to the shared collaborativechannel by the invitee.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, the invitee may be a recipient collaborationteam from the originating organization or a different organization, andone or more members from the recipient collaboration team are selectedto be added to the shared collaborative channel.

In accordance with at least one aspect of the above non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, the identity of the invitee may include anorganization identifier of the invitee and an invitee identifier

The present disclosure, in various configurations and aspects, includescomponents, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantiallyas depicted and described herein, including various combinations,subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art willunderstand how to make and use the systems and methods disclosed hereinafter understanding the present disclosure. The present disclosure, invarious configurations and aspects, includes providing devices andprocesses in the absence of items not depicted and/or described hereinor in various configurations or aspects hereof, including in the absenceof such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes,e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease, and/or reducing cost ofimplementation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating a shared collaborativechannel for collaboration, the method comprising: receiving a request,from an originating member in an originating organization, to create theshared collaborative channel, the request including an invitee to beadded to the shared collaborative channel; in response to receiving therequest, generating the shared collaborative channel withincollaboration environment shared among members of a collaboration teamwithin the originating organization, wherein the originating member is amember of a collaboration team within the originating organization, andwherein the invitee is a member of the same collaboration team withinthe originating organization, a different collaboration team within theoriginating organization, or a different external organization;provisioning a substrate group by creating a container including asubstrate database associated with the shared collaborative channel, thesubstrate database including a membership roster of the sharedcollaborative channel; generating an invitation including a custom linkfor accessing the shared collaborative channel by the invitee, thecustom link indicating an identity of the invitee; based on the identityof the invitee, determining whether the invitee belongs to theoriginating organization based on an organizational database; and inresponse to determining that the invitee belongs to the originatingorganization: updating the membership roster of the substrate databaseto add the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel;based on the custom link, automatically establishing a linkage foraccess to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee; and assigninga set of rights to the invitee for accessing content of the sharedcollaborative channel based at least in part on which collaboration teamand organization the invitee belongs to.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: in response to determining that the invitee does notbelong to the originating organization, determining whether the inviteehas accepted the invitation; and in response to determining that theinvitee has accepted the invitation, updating the substrate group to addthe invitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining thatthe invitee does not belong to the originating organization, determiningwhether the invitee has accepted the invitation; and in response todetermining that the invitee has accepted the invitation, establishing alinkage for access to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determiningthat the invitee does not belong to the originating organization,determining whether the invitee has accepted the invitation; and inresponse to determining that the invitee has not accepted theinvitation, allowing the invitation to expire without updating thesubstrate database or establishing a linkage to the shared collaborativechannel for the invitee.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the inviteeis one of an individual from the originating collaboration team, anindividual from a different collaboration team in the same organization,or an individual from a different organization.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the invitee is a recipient collaboration team from theoriginating organization or a different organization, and wherein one ormore members from the recipient collaboration team are selected to beadded to the shared collaborative channel.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the identity of the invitee includes an organization identifierof the invitee and an invitee identifier.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the substrate group is associated with an independent identitymanagement directory that includes a list of members that are authorizedto access resources or content associated with the shared collaborativechannel.
 9. A computing device for generating a shared collaborativechannel for collaboration, the computing device comprising: a processor;and a memory having a plurality of instructions stored thereon that,when executed by the processor, causes the computing device to: receivea request, from an originating member of an organization, to create theshared collaborative channel, the request including an invitee to beadded to the shared collaborative channel; in response to receipt of therequest, generate the shared collaborative channel within collaborationenvironment shared among members of a collaboration team within theoriginating organization, wherein the originating member is a member ofa collaboration team within the originating organization, and whereinthe invitee is a member of the same collaboration team within theoriginating organization, a different collaboration team within theoriginating organization, or a different external organization;provision a substrate group by creating a container associate with theshared collaborative channel including a substrate database associatedwith the shared collaborative channel, the substrate database includinga membership roster of the shared collaborative channel; generate aninvitation including a custom link to the shared collaborative channelfor the invitee; determine whether the invitee belongs to an originatingcollaboration team associated with the originating member based on thesubstrate database; in response to a determination that the inviteebelongs to the originating collaboration team, update the substrategroup to add the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborativechannel; and assign a set of rights to the invitee for accessing contentof the shared collaborative channel based at least in part on whichcollaboration team and organization the invitee belongs to.
 10. Thecomputing device of claim 9, wherein the plurality of instructions whenexecuted further cause the computing device to: in response to adetermination that the invitee belongs to the originating collaborationteam, automatically establish a linkage for access to the sharedcollaborative channel by the invitee based on the custom link.
 11. Thecomputing device of claim 9, wherein the plurality of instructions whenexecuted further cause the computing device to: in response to adetermination that the invitee does not belong to the originatingcollaboration team, determine whether the invitee has accepted theinvitation; and in response to a determination that the invitee hasaccepted the invitation: update the substrate group to add the inviteeas a new member of the shared collaborative channel, and establish alinkage for access to the shared collaborative channel by the invitee.12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein to determine whether theinvitee has accepted the invitation comprises causing the computingdevice to determine whether the custom link included in the invitationhas been added to a collaborative environment of the invitee.
 13. Thecomputing device of claim 9, wherein the invitee is a recipientcollaboration team from the originating organization or a differentorganization, and one or more members from the recipient collaborationteam are selected to be added to the shared collaborative channel. 14.The computing device of claim 9, wherein the identity of the inviteeincludes an organization identifier of the invitee and an inviteeidentifier.
 15. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the substrategroup is associated with an independent identity management directorythat includes a list of members that are authorized to access resourcesor content associated with the shared collaborative channel.
 16. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions forgenerating a shared collaborative channel for collaboration, theinstructions when executed by one or more processors of a computingdevice, cause the computing device to perform operations, comprising:receiving a request, from an originating member in an originatingorganization, to create the shared collaborative channel, the requestincluding an invitee to be added to the shared collaborative channel; inresponse to receiving the request, generating the shared collaborativechannel within collaboration environment shared among members of acollaboration team within the originating organization, wherein theoriginating member is a member of a collaboration team within theoriginating organization, and wherein the invitee is a member of thesame collaboration team within the originating organization, a differentcollaboration team within the originating organization, or a differentexternal organization; provisioning a substrate group by creating acontainer including a substrate database associated with the sharedcollaborative channel, the substrate database including a membershiproster of the shared collaborative channel; generating an invitationincluding a custom link for accessing the shared collaborative channelby the invitee, the custom link indicating an identity of the invitee;based on the identity of the invitee, determining whether the inviteebelongs to an originating organization based on an organizationaldatabase; in response to determining that the invitee belongs to theoriginating organization, updating the membership roster of thesubstrate database to add the invitee as a new member of the sharedcollaborative channel; and assigning a set of rights to the invitee foraccessing content of the shared collaborative channel based at least inpart on which collaboration team and organization the invitee belongsto, wherein the substrate group is associated with an independentidentity management directory that includes a list of members that areauthorized to access resources or content associated with the sharedcollaborative channel.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: in response todetermining that the invitee belongs to the originating organization,automatically establishing a linkage for access to the sharedcollaborative channel by the invitee based on the custom link.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein theoperations further comprise: in response to determining that the inviteedoes not belong to the originating organization, determining whether theinvitee has accepted the invitation; and in response to determining thatthe invitee has accepted the invitation: updating the substrate group toadd the invitee as a new member of the shared collaborative channel, andestablishing a linkage for access to the shared collaborative channel bythe invitee.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim16, wherein the invitee is a recipient collaboration team from theoriginating organization or a different organization, and one or moremembers from the recipient collaboration team are selected to be addedto the shared collaborative channel.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the identity of theinvitee includes an organization identifier of the invitee and aninvitee identifier.